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COVER 0R BEZEL FOR WATCH CASES.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRITZ MINK, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE KEYSTONE VATCH OASE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

COVER OR BEZEL FOR WATCH-CASES.

SICIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 468,749, dated February 9, 1892.

Application tiled May 5, 1891l Serial No. 391,656- (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may Concern:

Be it known that I, FRITZ MINK, of the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Covers or Bezels of Watch-Cases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to covers or bezels of watch-cases and other articles of jewelry; and it consists of certain improvements, which are fully set forth in the following specification, and are shown in the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

It is the object of my invention to produce a cover or bezel for a watch-case or other article of jewelry having an effective butl economical ornamentation applied thereto. In articles made of solid metal the ornamentation may be applied by hand-engraving, which cuts into the surface of the metal. This, however, is expensive, and with the cheaper articles made of filled metal having a base interior and precious outer covering is impracticable, since the cutting of the surface-metal in the process of engraving to any considerable depth would expose the interior filling of base metal. To obviate this difficulty and to provide an economical method of ornamenting watch-case covers and other articles of jewelry, it has been proposed to impart the ornamentation by embossing it upon the surface of the article. The metal in'its cold state is pressed between dies and the surface is embossed with the desired pattern of ornamentation. The difficulty with this process, however,is that it imparts to the reverse or back of the article embossed the reverse of the ornamentation upon the face, preventing an uneven surface. It has been proposed to spin or cut out this uneven surface upon the interior; but this is expensive, and in the case of lled-metal objects impossible.

My invention is designed to overcome these difficulties, and to this end' I form the article of two parts-the outer part or portion upon which the ornamentation is formed and an interior part or portion located over the back thereof and covering the reverse of the ornamentation, so as to hide it from view, and present upon the inner face of the watch-case Cover or other object the same smooth or even surface that is obtained with hand-engraving or with the cutting down of the interior on embossed objects. By this means I am enabled to produce a iilled-metalcover having the embossed ornamentation upon the exterior, but with the smooth interior of the engraved cover of solid metal.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a watch-case back or cover having the embossed ornamentation upon its surface.v Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same on the line 0c x of Fig. l. Figs. 3 and -i are similar views illustrating slight modiiications of my invention.

A is a watch-case cover or back having the embossed ornamentation applied thereto. Vhen such a cover is made of filled metal, it will have the inner portion of base metal b and the thin outer covering of precious metal a. These filled-metal plates may be made of either double or triple form, having simply a thin covering of precious metal a upon the surface or outer side, as is shown in Fig. 2, or having the covering a upon both sides with the base metal between them, as is shown in the body of the cover in Fig. 3. The embossed ornamentation is formed on the outside of the cover A, and the reverse of that ornamentation upon the interior is concealed by a second plate or piece B, which may be secured to the under surface of the ornamented piece A in any convenient manner, as by spinning the rim or -edge of the outer piece of metal over it, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or by means of solder C, as shown in Fig. 4. The latter method is preferred, as it fills up the opening or hollows formed by the reverse of the ornamentation between the adjacent faces of the plates or pieces A and B and will prevent the hollow sound upon percussion-that would otherwise be produced.

In Fig. 2 the inner plate Bis shown extending over the entire inner surface of the outer plate A, and the plates are each provided with a single covering of precious metal a, with the base interior b. It is obvious that this covering of precious metal is not required upon the adjacent surfaces of the two plates A and B, as those surfaces are concealed from view. In the constructions shown in Figs. 1,2, and

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4 the plate A, upon which the ornamentation or embossing is formed, constitutes the main body of the cover and carries the undercut iange or snap-rim c, while in the construction shown in Fig. 3 the plate B forms the body of the cover and the ornamented or embossed plate'A is secured upon its outer surface. In this construction, in which the lower plate constitutes the body of the cover, the plate A may be held in place by means of an annular rim d upon the surface of the plate B.

Vhile I have shown my invention in the be varied, if desired, without departing from the invention.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. As an article of manufacture, a watchcase cover consisting of an outer embossed plate and an inner plate secured thereto, each of said plates having one surface only covered with a layer of precious metal and having the two surfaces of base metal secured together.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a watchcase cover consisting of an outer embossed plate A and an inner plate B, secured to the inner surface of said embossed plate and extending over the reverse of the ornamentation thereon and having the spaces between the adjacent surfaces of said plates A and B, formed by the reverse of the embossed ornamentation, illed.

3. As an article of manufacture, a watchcase cover or bezel consisting of a metal plate having an embossed surface and a second plate secured to the first plate over the reverse4 of the ornamentation thereon, one of said plates being of smaller diameter than the other, so that one of said plates will extend beyond the edge of the other plate.

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand.

FRITZ MINK.

Witnesses:

ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER, JOHN ALEXANDER BRAMLEY. 

